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Redhawk in 45 Colt

Well I bought me a 4.2 convertible 45ACP/45Colt and need some sound advice on what to feed it. There is some question as far as sizing goes and I really don't want to start reaming the cylinder on a brand new $800 Ruger. I'm thinking .452 with a crimping groove 225 grain or 250 RNFP. Also would like to push them along a little faster than a SAA on occasion and keep the leading to a minimum. Any and all help is appreciated. Sunfish

I got a Blackhawk .45 convertible not long ago. It was a tack driver right out of the box with anything I fed it. I have yet to try to measure the throats or bore but I had a .452 sizing die for my Lyman 450 and it works perfectly. I got a Lyman 452424 (250 gr.) which is outstanding but all my .45 ACP boolits (Layman 452374, 452630, Accurate 453-200E and NOE 453-210-RF) are very accurate in .45LC. The only issue I have with the .45 ACP cylinder is that it does not like any shoulder forward of the case mouth and I didn't want to load special "deep-seated" ammo just for it. At the time I had a Lyman 452374 that was .687 long but I have since found a 452374 that casts .658 long which I can load at a COAL of 1.260 that seats perfectly in the .45 ACP cylinder and shoots great in every .45 ACP I load for.

I think you'll have a hard time finding a boolit that it does not shoot well. Size at .452 and go shoot it! Don't worry about a problem till you actually have one.

I have one of the 4 inch Redhawk 45s, pre 45 ACP. It had undersized throats and didn't shoot cast very well. I had The Cylindersmith ream it to .4525 when he was still in business. It shoots cast great now. I've talked with a couple other guys who ran into the same issue with their Redhawks.

If you don't have access to pin gauges, find some .452 slugs, actual diameter by miking, not just what the box says, and see if they will slide through the throats of the cylinder with finger pressure. If they won't it wouldn't hurt a thing to have the throats opened up to .4525 by Dougguy here on this site. He's done some for me and does great work.

Chances of your Redhawk having undersized throats is high. Chances your Redhawk will shoot cast bullets well with undersized throats is low. For no more than Doug charges for throating, it would be the first thing I'd do to any Ruger 45.

There is some question as far as sizing goes and I really don't want to start reaming the cylinder on a brand new $800 Ruger. I'm thinking .452 with a crimping groove 225 grain or 250 RNFP.

Hey you can be GLAD that Ruger left some metal to be carefully removed! Just think how life would be if they left the factory with one size fits all throats!

Originally Posted by Ed_Shot

I got a Blackhawk .45 convertible not long ago. It was a tack driver right out of the box with anything I fed it. I have yet to try to measure the throats or bore but I had a .452 sizing die for my Lyman 450 and it works perfectly.

Take a .452" boolit and see if it will go through the throats in both cylinders from the front with finger pressure. If they won't then your throats are undersized, and keep in mind that regardless of what you size to when you load the rounds, they will exit the front of the cylinder at throat diameter.

Originally Posted by Ed_Shot

The only issue I have with the .45 ACP cylinder is that it does not like any shoulder forward of the case mouth and I didn't want to load special "deep-seated" ammo just for it.

Likely throats won't let a .452" pass through, they also won't let you chamber a round with any portion of a .452" boolit sitting proud of the case mouth.

What you are describing is a very common situation where the cylinder is nothing more than a 6 port sizing die that sizes down the boolits each time you fire the gun. A lot of the older convertibles have throats at .450" ~ .4505" so the gun really does perk up after the throats are corrected.